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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 19h

"Top 1%" and yet this score...does not look impressive. I made the wrong call with "Meg Ryan + $100m+ worldwide box office" (the latter, my least favorite column in this game) Vulture Cinematrix No. 925: Oct 7, 2026 I got 9/9 Correct Score: 2654 🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩 Play at: vulture.com/vulturecinem...

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

So funny-odd to me that, in this year when we're getting a "sequel" to THE SOCIAL NETWORK with Sorkin now directing too, we also have new, Oscar-buzz-y movies with/from Fincher (THE FURTHER MIS-ADVENTURES OF CLIFF BOOTH), Eisenberg (THE DEBUT), and Garfield (ARTIFICIAL).

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

A PART of me was holding out some idiotic hope ("idiotic hope," there's a redundancy), that Paramount's/Skydance's acquisition of WB wouldn't go through, wouldn't be allowed, even though I knew it would...but we're fucking doomed, even in how we're allowed to consume art/entertainment.

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

On my way in to see PRIMETIME last week, I told the friend I was with that I was very curious how DIGGER would do that weekend...but I was more pessimistic than optimistic about its chances.

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

That said...note my use of the past tense.

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I wouldn't have cast a judgmental eye on someone who drafted DIGGER a week or two ago - I could've seen the Academy going hard for a polarizing Iñárritu film (or a polarizing climate-change satire [*cough*DON'T LOOK UP*cough*] about as much as I could've seen them almost entirely leaving it out.

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

The "now I'm actually looking forward to it as opposed to dreading it" bit? That's me and THE CAT IN THE HAT; I wanted a likelier contender for big box office points than anything else I had, and it's POSSIBLE - if unlikely - that THE CAT IN THE HAT could also be an Animated Feature Oscar nominee.

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Today I'm saying this because Eva Marie Saint has died, but on any other day, I'd be saying this just because this movie's a total pleasure: Go watch NORTH BY NORTHWEST.

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I was close to using a Kim Basinger path, but I'm glad I found a (non-boring) 2-degree path, which was: Cruise - VANILLA SKY - Tilda Swinton - SUSPIRIA (2018) - Johnson

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

That's what I'd hope and want...and I've been trying to move some stuff in the show around in my head to ideally place both parts of AToT, given that the second part really feels like it should be the episode-closer to me.

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

While it IS too soon to remove DIGGER from your list of Oscar prospects, I, uh...I'm definitely glad I didn't draft it for the Movies Fantasy League. I was never that close to doing so, but...yeah.

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Yeah, it's not like the "Rell's Crew" sketch last week, where it's relatively sprawling and they'd have had to be diligent about the cuts to it (and I think they should have done so to allow it in, but...that's last week). Still...so close!

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

More "Amazing Tales of Truth" (cont.) - Clearly, the move should have been to cut a guest segment - maybe some jokes too! - from Update to make room (not that much room either!) for this second part. #SNL

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

It would have been SO easy and SO the right choice to cut one of the guest segments and/or some of the jokes from Update to make room for the second part of this.

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

More "Amazing Tales of Truth" (cont.) - I'll stop by saying: #SNL viewers like me, we're starving for 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 Andrew Dismukes moments or showcases. What aired was pretty good - but we might've missed out on another 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 one that we could've had if 𝑎𝑙𝑙 of AToT had aired. #SNL

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

More "Amazing Tales of Truth" (cont.) - I still don't think the one that aired at maybe 12:54-12:56 feels 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒...but they put on the safer one of these two, that's for sure. #SNL

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

More "Amazing Tales of Truth" (cont.) - ... this one involving a dog 𝑑𝑖𝑔𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑜𝑔'𝑠 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑜𝑔'𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠 - that feels Michael O'Donoghue-esque. That's "complimentary," because I really liked this, but I would have gotten much MORE of a kick out of it had made the show. #SNL

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

OH HEY, DON'T READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE SECOND PART OF "AMAZING TALES OF TRUTH" More "Amazing Tales of Truth" (cont.) - There IS something about the wicked spirit of this - not only the dark "of course not" joke, but... #SNL

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

More "Amazing Tales of Truth" (cont.) - Upon hearing the description of this cut second part last night in the aforementioned SNN roundtable's chat, someone said Michael O'Donoghue would've been proud. Sometimes I think the MOD comparison is too easy - it's dark, so it's very MOD! - but... #SNL

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

More "Amazing Tales of Truth" (cont.) - That lets Dismukes' great, "That's right, we're still in this sketch! Can you believe it?" line play; that got me & would have gotten me all the more watching it play out live, as would blunt, "get a grip" lines like, "Sometimes dogs just look the same!" #SNL

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

More "Amazing Tales of Truth" (cont.) - Not having the "Amazing Tales of Truth" title card does wonders for this, I'm glad the show...well, not 𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 that, but 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 that had this second installment aired.... #SNL

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

More "Amazing Tales of Truth" (cont.) - What actually aired did not feel like "half a sketch" to me, it felt like one piece with the brevity being the point. But there IS another part of this, and...yeah, I'd have cut a WU segment and made room for the second part of the runner. #SNL

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

More "Amazing Tales of Truth" - Hearing, on the @thesnlnetwork.bsky.social roundtable last night, that there was meant to be more to this - that it was intended to be a 𝑟𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑟 with a second "installment" later in the ep. - surprised me, and it made me want to see "the other half," BUT... #SNL

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I forgot she's in - GAME SPOILER AHEAD - Animated Feture nominee PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH.

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

There are four in total, and the one I forgot about isn't exactly obscure, but it's closer to obscure than the other three.

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

...another asset for loathsome, sycophantic toadies of a unbearably grotesque tyrant looking to control as many media outlets as possible so that they can't speak against or make fun of him.This is just bad.

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

We've seen quite the decline of WB during the last several years, with something like a turnaround happening last year, but this collapse is sad, and nothing good will come of it. Instead of being Warner Bros. Pictures, it will soon be another pawn moved around by the Tr*** cabal...

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I love rewatching - we're not getting anyting about the story's creator - the HARRY POTTER films and gradually seeing the gleaming golden WB logo more & more enveloped by darkness as the journey goes on. My love of classic film was largely built on loving Warner Bros. pictures, of any mold/genre.

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

CASABLANCA, GOODFELLAS and a few other Scorsese films, a rich history of gangster pictures, the GREMLINSes, on and on... I love watching the WB logo of the '80s-mid-'90s and half-expecting the sky in it to darken, no matter what I'm watching, JUST because of Burton's BATMAN movies...

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Many of my favorite movies were released/produced by Warner Bros. - a lot of great memories with WB movies come just from Tim Burton being my favorite filmmaker (9 of his films have been WB releases, after all), but then there's most pre-OPPENHEIMER Nolan, the HARRY POTTER movies, BLAZING SADDLES...

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

i can't say last night's was a 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 #SNL, but it was, for the most part, a genuinely 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 one, and 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 than last week's season premiere (which I'm particularly glad/relieved about because I was watching it with my girlfriend, who was interested in seeing Dakota Johnson host).

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Oh, how dare I not mention Leon Pendarvis getting a moment in the monologue, but...hey, Leon got a moment in the monologue! I love those rare occasions when #SNL pays a little attention to someone in the band.

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I looked over her IMDb after I was finished playing (AFTER, I promise, I stick to the honor system), and there was just ONE I'd forgotten while I was playing. No true obscurities among them, but...I wish I'd used that one.

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

"Florence Pugh + Oscar-Nominated Film" does not leave you with many options. Vulture Cinematrix No. 923: Oct 5, 2026 I got 9/9 Correct Score: 2657 🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩 Play at: vulture.com/vulturecinem...

vulture.com

Cinematrix No. 923: October 5, 2026

Can you name Oscar-nominated Florence Pugh movie?

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I'm pretty much always going to enjoy a subversion or acknowledgment of the "Live from New York," and so I did with the "Live from New York..."/'No, no, Senator, not yet..." moment here (I also thought, "I mean, of course not yet, but why CAN'T it be time for the 'LFNY...' right now?"). #SNL

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Ooh, I've just remembered a moment in the cold open that I really liked, and I have to mention it because I'm criticizing this guy's work more & more lately: Mikey as the barely-there, an-upward-thumb-and-a-confused-"Live from New York..."-is-the-most-he-can-do Mitch McConnell was very funny. #SNL

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I have my reservations or misgivings about some stuff, remain not thrilled with some cast members and encouraged by how some others were brought out. I'm all the more pro-Dakota on #SNL than I was before (not that she needs to host every season), and overall, this was a fun one to watch.

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

It was 1 a.m. for me when the show "came back" for a quick band shot, and...why do that? It's 1, you know you're not putting anything else, get to the goodnights. Anyway, as I said up top, a good-if-not-grrreat ep., though it had a few grrreat portions. #SNL

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

"Amazing Tales of Truth" (cont.) - "Big Damn Plastic Bubble" being a piece that's ultimately about misdirection and ridiculing. I like acknowledging "BDPB" in talking about this ep., which had TWO stellar commercial parodies, quite the modern #SNL rarity.

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

"Amazing Tales of Truth" (cont.) - "It did not. That's not how comas work." A rock-solid floor-dropping-under-your-feet ending there. The blunt, "Of course not, what are you thinking?!" of that reminded me of an old favorite of mine, the "Big Damn Plastic Bubble" commercial from '82... #SNL

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

"Amazing Tales of Truth" (cont.) - THIS is a sketch where there being very little to it served it well, because...hey, that's the point, that's the gag, and I can be a sucker for it. Veronika's "Over the Rainbow' was lovely, you let yourself wonder if this is going somewhere sweet, but... #SNL

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

"Amazing Tales of Truth" - First, the move from Dismukes' Serling-esque intro to Higgins' typical-Higgins reading of the title was funny to me right away. Second, Veronika being able to 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 and pull some 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑠...doesn't stop me from missing Chloe Troast, who could do both well herself. #SNL

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

"Get Ready with Me" (cont.) - Not seeing these "words" flagged as incorrect worried me, so I searched them, and Wiktionary DOES have entries for "cutiful" and "legiterally," meaning that 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 "𝑐𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑢𝑙" 𝑎𝑛𝑑 "𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦." Of course + BLECCH. #SNL

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

"Get Ready with Me" (cont.) - I was about to...complain, let's be real, it would've been complaining...about the use of "WICKED speak" (obnoxious compounds like "cutiful" and "legiterally") from Sarah's character...and then I saw that those words didn't have the red squiggles underlining them. #SNL

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

"Get Ready with Me" (cont.) - ...the full-on-cartoon endings to Penelope sketches back in the day, but the more I think about it, the more the dad here and Colorado Vicky are well matched, maybe they need each other. Or will be the ruin of each other. #SNL

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

"Get Ready with Me" (cont.) - "I'm just gonna go lay down in the grass, put some dirt in my mouth, see what it feels like, let the bugs do their thing," is too good a line for that guy to go out to NOT hit for me. I wasn't sure about the ending at first, similar to how i was unsure about... #SNL

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John Ananias @burtonesque.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

"Get Ready with Me" (cont.) - They have to change what's on the green screen behind Dakota, for example - but I wasn't feeling this one enough...and then JAJ's jovial greetings to the girls got funnier ("Hey hey, my little white C-words...") and his whole on-the-brink character grew funnier... #SNL

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